Foldable basket and handle therefor



T. M. HOUSE.

' FOLDABLE BASKET AND HANDLE THEREFOR.

APPLICATION mm FEB. 21,. 1920.

1,354,253. I PatentedSept. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. HOUSE, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, AS SIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO ALBERT KELLAM, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

FOLDABLE BASKET AND HANDLE THEREFOR.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

Application filed February 21, 1920. Serial No. 360,279.

to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates t0 baskets or containers of like character, and particularly to knock-down or foldable baskets or containers. i

The general object of this invention is to provide a container, which I will hereafter call a basket, which is of such character that the bodyis formed of one piece of material formed so that the sides and ends of the body may be folded fiat upon each other and upon the bottom, or may be folded so that the sides and ends stand at right angles to the bottom, and provide in connection therewith a handle having four. points of engagement with the body. I

A further object is to provide a structure of this character wherein the handle is capable of being'folded and disposed within and against the bottom of thebody when the latter is in its foldedconditiona And a further objectis to provide a construction of this character wherein the handle acts tohold the body in its unfolded and basket-like condition.

And a further object in this connection is to provide a handle having four hangers formed at their ends with hooks to engage through the end flaps and the side walls of the basket body, and these hangers being formed with clips adapted to resiliently em brace the upper edges or margins of the side walls and the end flaps to thereby hold the basket body in its set-up condition.

. Other obj ets will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:- I y V Figure 1 is a perspective view of a foldable or collapsible basket constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the basket partly folded and the handle stowed within the basket;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view through one of the side walls and the handle;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the blank for the body; I

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the body in its folded condition;

Fig. 6 is an elevation of one of the hangers showing the handle partly in section; i

Fig. 7 hangers;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the body of the handle;

Fig. '9 is a section on the line 9-9 of Fig. 4. r 7 Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that the body of the basket is formed of a single heet or blank of heavy pasteboard or material of like nature, and that this blank is formed to provide the bottom 10, the side walls 11, the end walls 12, and the end wall flaps 13. /Vhen this body is knocked down or folded, the side walls are is a front elevation of one of the folded over upon the bottom, the flaps 13 are folded inward upon the end walls, and the end walls folded over upon the top of the upper surface of the side walls so' that the basket body is then of very compart form, occupying but little space, and capable of easy and cheap carriage. The end flaps 13 are pierced, as at 14, and the side flaps 11 are pierced as at'15, so that when the blank is unfolded and the walls 11 and 12 raised to provide a basket body, these perforations 14 will register with the perforations 15.

The handle constitutes means for supporting the basket body and also for holding the blank of the basket body in its set-up condition. To this end, the handle comprises a transverse web 16 of thin sheet metal formed with two marginal beads 17. Through each of these beads passes a length of wire 18 whose extremities are bent at right angles, as at 19, to form hangers, these hangers midway of their length being formed to provide clips 20. Each 'clip isv formed by bending the wire of the hanger reversely upon itself, that is upward upon itself, and then bending the wire again downward in spaced relathe blank will be folded into itsmost compact form with the handle folded flat 'and against the bottom of the Then it is desired to use it, the blank is unfolded, the handle removed, and the end flaps 13 disposed preferably outside of the v 20 side. walls 11.. Then the hook-like ends 23 are engaged through the perforations 1d and 15 inthe manner illustrated in Fig. 3, and at the same time the clips 20 are engaged to embrace the upper margins of the flaps 13 and the side walls 11 in the manner shown in Fig. .1, and the basket is ready for 'use. a

It is to be noted that the basket body is supported at four points by the handle, and

V that the hangers of the handle extend down- '30 ward in v divergent relation-so as to engage the basket body, adjacent theends of the same, thus causing the basket body to be more perfectly balanced than it otherwise would be and giving a better support to the basketbody than if the handle was engaged with'the'basket body at the middle of the body. The hook-shaped ends 23 support the .7

ends of the body from outward movement under pressure of material within the body, and the clips 20 engage theside flaps of the body with the sides, while the sides are supported by the relatively long portions 22 of the wire. 1 g

While I have illustrated apreferred form of my invention which has been found thoroughly effective for the purpose, yet it is obvious that minorlchanges might be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. V

I claim v 1.;A basket comprising a body having a bottom, side walls and end walls all foldable upon the bottom or movable into planes at right angles thereto, the end walls having flaps overlapping the outer faces of the side walls, and said fiaps and side walls being perforated adjacent the bottom, and a handlejextending transversely over the body and having at each end downwardly divergent hangers disposed V on and bearing against the outer faces of the flaps, the lower.

extremities of said hangers being hooked to engage through the perforations, and the intermediate portions of the hangers being formed with inwardly. and downwardly exhangers to be folded flat and folded body.

upon the bottom or movable into planes at right angles thereto, the end walls having flaps adapted to fold over upon the side walls, the lower margins of said flaps being downwardly and outwardly inclinedtoward the end walls of the basket, a hindle extending transversely over the body and having at each" end downwardly. divergent hangers, said hangers extending downward upon the outer faces of the flaps and detachably engaging withfthe flapsand side walls at their lower ends and holding thafflaps and side walls togetherand each of said'ha'ngers being formed with .an inwardly and down 'wardly extending clip adapted to extend over and embrace the'upper edges of the flap and side wall and extend down for a distance upon the inner face of the side wall, thatportion of the hanger lying between the clip and its lower end extending parallel ad jacent to the inclined edge of the flap, said clipsforming the sole means for holding the side walls and flaps together attheir upper edges V 3. A foldable basket comprising. a body having a bottom, side walls and end walls an foldable over uponthe bottom or movable into planes at right angles thereto, the end walls having flaps adapted to be disposed against the outer-faces of the sidewalls when the basket isunfolded, the said flaps and the sidewalls being perforated adjacent the 105 bottom, a handle comprising a strip of sheet metal extending transversely above the body, and hangers pivotally engaged with said strip and normally extending'downward in divergent relations on" each sidev of the 110 basket, each of" said downwardly extending portions at its extremity .being formed to provide an inwardly extending hook adapted to be normall extended through the'perforations in the end. wall flaps and the side wall of the basket, the wireintermediate the upperand lower ends of each hanger'being upwardly bent in the form of a loop, then outwardly bent. and then downwardly extended to thereby form a clipadapted'to embrace a side wall of the body and, one of said flaps of an endwall, said clip forming the sole means whereby the upper edges of the side wall: and correspondingflap are heldtogether. r j 1 I 7 4. A- basket comprising a body. having a bottom, sidewalls and end walls all foldable upon the bottom or movable into planes at right angles thereto, the end 'wallshaving flaps: adaptedto overlap theaside walls, a

handle having hangers formed to engage with the body and flaps adjacent the ends of the body near the bottom thereof and on each side of the body and hold the body and fiaps in engagement, saidhangers each having a portion lying flat against the flap for the greater portion of its length and having at the upper end of said portion a clip extending over the upper edge of the flap and the upper ed ge of the adjacent side wall,

said clip forming the sole means for locking the upper edge of the side wall and the upper edgeof the flap together.

In testlmon signature. 

